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Suspect tied to 2 shootings in SW Dade in custody after 4-hour standoff

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Miami-Dade Police negotiators took a suspect into custody after a nearly four-hour standoff. Investigators said he is tied to two shooting scenes in Southwest Miami-Dade, including one involving the deaths of his wife and son.

The suspect, identified as Fadel Jabado, was taken into custody as of 5 p.m., Wednesday. He had previously barricaded himself in an agricultural section of the southern part of the county, near Quail Roost Drive and 152nd Avenue.

According to officials, 58-year-old Jabado told Miami-Dade Police that he wanted to commit suicide by cop. During the standoff, police said, Jabado shot at officers. They tried to negotiate with him, until Jabado raised his gun at the officers, and that’s when they had no choice but to shoot.

“The individual did tell our negotiators that he intended to die today,” said Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez, “and that he wanted police officers to kill him. He did not want to do it to himself because of his religion. After hours and hours of negotiating, the individual came in and out of the vehicle with the gun in hand, a gun placed to his head, under his chin, to his chest and really tried to bait our officers into shooting him.”

The suspect did survive after he was shot in the midsection of his body. He is currently in the hospital.

Residents in the area were ordered to stay inside their homes and are breathing a sigh of relief now that the suspect is no longer on the run.

The standoff with police is now over and ended with the suspect being carried on a stretcher to be transported in an ambulance.

7’s Skyforce HD hovered over the scene of an area where the suspect had been holed up inside of a car, not far from the 13000 block of Southwest 192nd Street.

Officials surrounded that vehicle that was parked in a Southwest Miami-Dade field for hours and moved in sometime just before 5 p.m. The standoff lasted nearly four hours.

7News crews were on the scene along Southwest 200th Street and 147th Avenue where the entire area had been blocked off by officials.

Earlier Wednesday, investigators said Jabado went into a law office, off of 11420 North Kendall Drive, and started to shoot, hitting attorney Larry Harshman, at around 10:30 a.m.

Harshman was transported to Kendall Regional Trauma Center by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue with a gunshot wound to the stomach. Miami-Dade Police said doctors are treating him.

“It’s scary; of course it’s scary,” said Raquel Chavez, an employee of the office complex who was inside the building at the time of the shooting. “You never know what people are going to do nowadays.”

Court records confirm that Harshman has worked with the suspect previously.

“It’s a little unnerving,” said Ted Logan, an employee near the law office. “I’ll feel a little nervous for the rest of the day now.”

The investigation into the victim’s shooting led Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue to a second shooting. A man and woman were found inside the suspect’s house with gunshot wounds.

“The investigation led us to here, which is the last known address, and that’s where we made our discovery of two deceased adults,” said Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta.

They were later identified as Jabado’s wife and son, Bassima and Ahmed Jabado. Bassima was 43; Ahmed was 26. “It’s just a tragedy, you know,” said one resident. “A family tragedy that shouldn’t have ended up like this.”

The suspect’s house is located about 100 blocks south of the office complex, along the 13000 block of Southwest 192nd Street. There is an active investigation at this residence.

Area schools were put on lockdown as police tried to protect the suspect’s family members. “We needed to place them in secure custody, in protective custody,” Zabaleta said. “Therefore, we had to do our due diligence in an abundance of caution because of what had occurred.”

Wednesday night, investigators were still on the scene at the suspect’s house. Police believe this all began as a domestic dispute.

As of early Thursday morning, Jabado and Harshman were both listed in critical but stable condition.

Police continue to search for a motive.

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